Well count me out! :lol: Nah, but for me I don't like it. I think its a bit tacky and not aesthetically pleasing and I find the hippy/new-agey origins more than a little naff (like "magic", "Sunlight"? What are we, Care Bears?! :icon_wink). Also I dislike how corporate firms smack it on products as "evidence" that they are somehow supporting gay people when in reality they are largely just jumping on a popular and on-point "trend" (the increased discussion of gay rights) to cash in (see the "Pink Pound"). BUT I concede most people do recognise it, so I guess it serves its purpose for now. I don't think it will really be needed once true equality is gained.
I guess there's the intellectual level and the gut reaction. Intellectually, I know the rainbow stands for all forms of diversity...not just LGBT(Q+) diversity. But at the gut level, when I see the rainbow (flag, strip, anarchy sign, whatever), I immediately think "queer-friendly". What I like about the rainbow is that it does *not* technically divide us. Yes, there are 6 colors shown as separate rectangles...but this is just an iconic depiction of a rainbow. Light contains an infinite number of wavelengths, and they are arranged on a spectrum, and with different intensities...effectively infinite variation, and with no clear boundaries separating one "color" from the next.
Hmm, well for most of my life I immediately heard, "Ugh! They're stealing the symbol of God's love and His promise not to kill the world by flood again!" whenever I saw it, but now I see it as a place where lgbt people are welcome~ ^.^
If you see an attractive man wearing one, that means his butt is up for grabs. MUWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! ---------- Post added 29th Sep 2015 at 01:18 PM ----------
The rainbow flag means to me as pride, courage, and happiness, oh and also the symbol of the LGBT community (which is not big here where i live). Im always telling my friends "When i get my first car, im going to buy a rainbow flag and put it in the back window"
I haven't got much of a personal, emotional connection to it, but it does represent decades of hard work and a political and social movement designed to change lives, rethink negative social structures and a continuing part of sexual liberation. That is not something I want to abandon. From the 1970s protests in America, Britain and Australia to last year's Ugandan pride that went ahead despite the risk of imprisonment or execution, the rainbow flag has been a symbol of protest, a call for social acceptance and a sign of self-acceptance. I think its ability to represent a strong history is wonderfully inspiring and I believe its relevance today is absolutely worth recognising. Even if I don't feel that much of a personal connection with it, it symbolises the social progress that allows me and many others to now feel sufficiently relaxed, confident in our identities and safe not to have to cling desperately to the LGBT community.
